‘TUF 19’ Recap: Episode 1

The 19th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” begins with the customary
round of elimination fights.

UFC President Dana White reminds viewers that this iteration of the
show will feature middleweights and light heavyweights competing
for a six-figure UFC contract and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Coaches B.J.
Penn and Frankie
Edgar shake hands and reacquaint themselves. They previously
spent 50 minutes with each other in the Octagon, and now they will
square off as coaches before climbing back into the cage for a
145-pound duel. The coaches are cordial in conversation. Penn
thanks Edgar for agreeing to a third fight after winning the first
two, and Edgar admits that he actually tried out for “TUF 5,” which
featured Penn coaching opposite Jens Pulver,
in 2007.

Former NFL hopeful Tyler King
towers over Daniel Spohn
in the episode’s first preliminary bout, but Spohn quickly cuts him
down to size. As King closes the distance, Spohn wrecks him with a
counter right hook, causing the larger man to fall flat on his
face. Spohn jumps on him and drives two more coffin nails into his
skull, much to the horror of King’s mother, who is sitting
cage-side.

“You know, this is a rough sport. This is a hurting sport,” says
Penn. “Sometimes, maybe, you shouldn’t bring your mom to something
like this, because anything can happen.”

Next, Hector
Urbina is relentless in his attempts to take down Adrian
Miles, but the man from Mississippi is scrambling his tail off
to continually pop back to his feet. Finally, Urbina snatches a
standing guillotine and forces the submission.

Jake
Heun will now square off with evangelist Todd
Monaghan. Heun dominates the early going and floors his man
with a dynamite right, but Monaghan somehow fights back to his
feet. However, Heun soon hits a takedown and bombs away with
ground-and-pound before threatening with a north-south choke.
Somehow, Monaghan recovers guard and swivels for a slick armbar,
forcing Heun to tap out and completing a miraculous comeback.

Next, Dana White reveals that 26-year-old Irishman Cathal
Pendred will receive a bye into the quarterfinals. According to
White, all of his prospective opponents kept coming up injured, and
so only 15 fights will be contested during tonight’s premiere.

New father Roger
Zapata now faces Tennessean Tyler
Minton at 185 pounds, and Zapata has little trouble taking care
of business, using superior boxing to bloody Minton and eventual
stop his man inside the distance.

Former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good
now locks horns with two-fight pro Ian
Stephens, who does his best Ben Askren
impression en route to a unanimous decision win. White seems
pleased, and both the UFC boss and Stephens take shots at Good’s
status as ex-Bellator champ.

Later, Josh
Stansbury tees off on Chris
Fields with a dynamite overhand right, but Fields weathers the
early knockdown and survives. However, Stansbury later pops his
knee while executing a takedown, and the fight is waved off.

Tim
Williams next recounts how he overcame a brain aneurysm and a
failed attempt on “TUF 17.” He adds Serbian talent Bojan
Velickovic to that list of conquered obstacles by scoring a
third-round TKO over his exhausted opponent.

Later, Kentuckian Josh Clark
taps John Poppie,
catching his bi-polar opponent in the episode’s second
triangle-armbar to earn his entry into the fighter house.

Doug
Sparks trots to the cage wearing a small set of furry, white
ears atop his head -- a fashion choice that has apparently been in
place for some time.

“My father was on an expedition in the Arctic Circle, and he
knocked up a polar bear,” Sparks says. “So, I’m half human.”

The ears provide little help in the Octagon for Sparks, who is
slammed violently to the mat and then submitted with a kimura by
former Ohio State University wrestler Patrick
Walsh.

Next, Matt Van
Buren uses some Travis
Browne-esque elbows to briefly render Daniel
Vizcaya unconscious as the father of two hunts for a takedown
against the cage. Referee Herb Dean halts
the contest, and the video replay indicates it was a good call.

Former Ring of Combat champion and “TUF Nations” veteran Nordine
Taleb next battles Mike King. The
middleweights put on a tremendous, back-and-forth fight, prompting
White to voice his regret that both men cannot gain entry into the
fighter house. Taleb floors King to start round three, but the
American counters with a beautiful, unorthodox kneebar attempt that
turns the tide and garners him the decision win.

The coaches head back to the locker rooms to evaluate the
performances they just witnessed and to plan their fight picks.
Upon returning to the training center’s main room, White informs
the surviving fighters that $25,000 bonuses will be awarded to the
fighters who earn “Knockout of the Season,” “Submission of the
Season” and “Fight of the Season.”

Edgar wins the coin toss and elects to make the first fighter pick,
choosing Anderson. The rest of the light heavyweights are then
divvied up; Edgar selects Walsh, Van Buren and Monaghan, while Penn
chooses Berzin, Clark, Spohn and Fields. At middleweight, Edgar
picks Stephens, Lima, Gordon and Urbina, and Penn takes King,
Williams, Pendred and Zapata.

Penn then chooses the first matchup, pairing Pendred with Urbina.
Next week, those middleweights will collide, and the 16-fighter
cast will move into the “TUF” house.